The present invention relates to the spreading of anchors on a rail of a railroad track.
A railroad track includes two rails which extend along a bed having ballast and railroad ties. The rails are mounted to the ties by tie plates which are spiked to the ties and which restrain the rails against movement perpendicular to the lengthwise direction of the rails. Additionally, the rails are restrained against lengthwise movement relative to ties by the use of anchors. The anchors are metallic pieces which extend from the field side of the rail to the gauge side (i.e., the side in between the two rails). Generally, two anchors are used to capture a rail to a particular tie. Each anchor extends underneath the rail and is disposed either in front of the tie or in back of the tie.
Railroad ties have to be replaced when they have become sufficiently worn. A so-called "tie gang", usually including a number of workers and several machines, will move along a railroad track and replace the worn ties. If a tie is to be replaced, the spikes holding tie plates to the particular tie are removed from the tie. Although this may be done by manual tools, it is more common to use a vehicle which moves along the rails and has a hydraulic mechanism for removing the spikes. After the spikes have been removed from the ties, the spikes are collected, either by machine or manually, so that spikes in sufficiently good condition may be reused. In order to remove a particular tie from under the rails, it is then necessary to spread the anchors from the front end back of the particular tie.
The spreading of the anchors may be done by manual tools. However, a machine has been used for spreading the anchors. A particular known machine clamps the rail and uses a member which directly engages an anchor. A hydraulic cylinder is used to move the member and push the anchor away from the tie by sliding the anchor along the underside of the rail.
The spreading of the anchors allows one to remove ties from under the rails by use of another machine. Machines may be used to replace the worn-out tie with a new tie and to reconstruct that portion of the track.
There have been several problems with known techniques for spreading anchors. Spreading anchors by manual tools is quite labor-intensive and time-consuming. However, the previously-mentioned machine which can be used to move an anchor away from a tie has other problems. Since the member of that machine which engages the anchor generally engages the anchor at a relatively high point, there is a tendency for the anchor to twist. Additionally, the machine operator may have difficulty ensuring that the member properly engages the anchor. This is especially true since there are significant differences between different anchors. A machine which best engages one type of anchor is ill-suited for engaging and spreading another type of anchor.